Cardiac or vascular catheter examinations are minimally invasive medical examinations of the heart using a catheter, which is typically introduced via veins or arteries at the groin, the bend of the elbow, or via the wrist joint. Depending on the objective of the examination, different points in the heart or the coronary vessels or the peripheral vessels are targeted. Within the scope of the catheter examination, measurements of the electrical activities in the case of stimulation disturbances can be taken, for example, and there may be the possibility, for example, for direct treatment by ablation of muscular or nerve stimulation paths. For such purposes, the catheter comprises at least one, but generally two or more, electrodes arranged on an outer surface of the catheter, it being possible to take the measurement or to carry out the treatment by means of said electrode(s). Depending on the specific purpose of the diagnosis and/or treatment, there are a large number of adapted variants of catheters of this type; for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,999 presents what is known as an ablation catheter.
The conventional way to produce and contact an electrode on a catheter is to produce said electrode from a metal part, for example, a ring or a plate, which is then connected by means of, for example, soldering, lasering or resistance welding, to a feed wire. The feed wire is then threaded through a hole in the catheter wall into an inner lumen of the catheter shaft and is guided to the proximal end thereof. The metal part is attached distally to the intended point of the catheter shaft by means of gluing, crimping, clamping, or the like. The feed wire is lastly connected at its other end to a plug connector. The conventional production technique is therefore relatively complex and labor-intensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,999 describes a catheter of which the distal end comprises a helical winding, over which the electrodes together with associated conductive tracks are accommodated. This winding is anchored distally and is wound around the catheter shaft.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the above-identified problems.